Balinese Keris Help

BluErf · 10th June 2005, 05:25 PM

My opinion: The blade is the oldest part of the keris, and I agree its probably mid to late 19th century max. The handle, sheath and pendok are probably all late 20th century work (if you are 'lucky', maybe there were made just a few months before the sale

). The older Balinese pieces rarely had full pendok. Rather, they cover only the back of the batang, exposing the front, which is usually pelet wood. Having said that, I have seen a most fantastic example in the book "Royal Gifts from Indonesia", which shows a Balinese keris with a sandang walikat sheath completely encased in gold sheet, and with the image of Kala embossed/repoussed on it. It was accentuated by many many (>50 I think) jewellery grade diamonds. The hilt was Nava Sari, also in the same high-carat gold sheet, encrusted with numerous jewellery grade diamonds. You need sunglasses to look at that keris or risk going blind.

The sheath of this example we are talking about is made from ebony, as is the handle. Ebony is a popular choice recently because good pelet wood is next to impossible to find. Silver pendok adorned with low-grade sapphire and rubies seemed to be a 20th century affair. The older sheaths rarely had them on the pendok, and the hilts typically use red or black gems, not blue, or even the green you see these days. Silver can be made to look old easily (ie greyish patina).

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10th June 2005, 05:25 PM	#32
BluErf Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,180	My opinion: The blade is the oldest part of the keris, and I agree its probably mid to late 19th century max. The handle, sheath and pendok are probably all late 20th century work (if you are 'lucky', maybe there were made just a few months before the sale ). The older Balinese pieces rarely had full pendok. Rather, they cover only the back of the batang, exposing the front, which is usually pelet wood. Having said that, I have seen a most fantastic example in the book "Royal Gifts from Indonesia", which shows a Balinese keris with a sandang walikat sheath completely encased in gold sheet, and with the image of Kala embossed/repoussed on it. It was accentuated by many many (>50 I think) jewellery grade diamonds. The hilt was Nava Sari, also in the same high-carat gold sheet, encrusted with numerous jewellery grade diamonds. You need sunglasses to look at that keris or risk going blind. The sheath of this example we are talking about is made from ebony, as is the handle. Ebony is a popular choice recently because good pelet wood is next to impossible to find. Silver pendok adorned with low-grade sapphire and rubies seemed to be a 20th century affair. The older sheaths rarely had them on the pendok, and the hilts typically use red or black gems, not blue, or even the green you see these days. Silver can be made to look old easily (ie greyish patina).